Angola’s Cabinda Refinery on track to begin operations this year

Angola

LUANDA, July 26, 2024 – Angola’s Cabinda Refinery is set to be commissioned in 2024, CEO Marcelo Hofke confirmed on Thursday. The plant’s chief executive also announced that the first phase of the plant should reach its full capacity of 30,000 bpd by July of next year.

The first phase, a USD 473-million investment, is currently two-thirds complete. When finished, the plant will produce jet fuel, diesel, heavy fuel oil and naphtha, with the latter two being produced for export. Second and third phases are slated to double the refinery’s capacity to 60,000 bpd and produce gasoline and LPG.

According to Felipe Berliner, group chief investment officer at Gemcorp Holdings, engineering for the second phase is expected to begin following the inauguration of the plant later this year. Gemcorp is one of the primary funders and a 90% shareholder in the refinery, with the other shares belonging to Sonangol.

Regarding future developments of the refinery, Berliner stated, “We believe that Cabinda has the potential to go way beyond the 60,000-bpd capacity envisaged to 90 or 120,000 barrels a day on the same site.”

Despite being Africa’s second-largest oil producer, Angola currently relies heavily on imported refined petroleum products due to a lack of refining capacity. The Cabinda Refinery is the first of several major projects intended to cover the country’s refining demand.

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